East Coast Trains had to temporarily cancel all services between Newcastle
and Edinburgh today after the landslide at Spittal, south of Berwick, deposited more than 40 tons of earth on to the track and washed away embankments supporting the line.

An hourly service between London and Edinburgh is now running.

Meanwhile, the fierce storms bringing torrential rain and colossal
hailstones to some parts of Britain have been caused by a weather
phenomenon known as the Spanish plume, forecasters said.

Warm moist air sweeping up from the south was lifted by a cold weather
front from the west bringing prolonged and exceptionally intense
downpours.

A stranded vehicle in flood water after torrential downpours cause flash floods

Paul Knightley, senior forecaster at MeteoGroup, said: "It is a pattern
that when it sets up in the correct fashion will produce astonishing
thunder storms.

"There is a lot of energy in the area and it is released in a spectacular way,” he added.

These unpredictable storms can do "disproportionate damage" by bringing
with them large hailstones, tornados, heavy rain and and high winds, Mr
Knightley said.